DENVER – The Cincinnati Reds kept spoiling opportunity after opportunity Saturday, but their pitchers wouldn’t let them lose.
The Reds were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position at one point. They failed to score their ghost runner from second base in the 10th inning, the first time that's happened in extra innings this season. They stranded 11 runners on base.
Lucas Sims couldn't hold onto a two-run lead in the 11th inning, but he made enough pitches to let his offense see another inning with a pair of strikeouts.
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Finally, in the 12th inning, Nick Castellanos hit an RBI double and scored on a groundout. That was enough run support for Heath Hembree, who picked up the save in the Reds' 6-4 victory against the Colorado Rockies.
There were dominant pitching performances – in Coors Field of all places – from Tyler Mahle and the top arms in the bullpen. After Mahle allowed a homer in the first inning, the Rockies didn't score again until the 11th.
The Reds seemed to have all the momentum in the late innings, but they just couldn’t turn it into anything. They stranded the bases loaded in the seventh inning. They couldn’t make anything of a leadoff single in the eighth. Two more runners were stranded in the ninth. A double play ruined the 10th inning.
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Shogo Akiyama made a highlight catch to send the game into extra innings, robbing Garrett Hampson of a potential two-out triple in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jesse Winker, the right fielder, hugged him immediately. Pitcher Tejay Antone was stunned, mouth agape, before raising his arms over his head and tipping his cap to Akiyama.
Antone and several infielders waited in front of the dugout for Akiyama, so they could congratulate him on his catch. Antone sat in the dugout with his arm around Akiyama’s shoulder, grateful for the assist in his scoreless outing.
Everything seemed to shift in the Reds’ direction when they saw how Mahle completed his start.
Reds manager David Bell always marvels at how Mahle seems to pitch better as he pitches deeper into games. He thinks Mahle is the type of pitcher who will throw many complete games in his career in an era where that’s become exceedingly rare.
Bell showed how much he trusted Mahle with the score tied in the seventh inning. Rockies reliever Robert Stephenson walked a batter and hit a batter with two outs. That brought up Mahle’s spot in the lineup.
Mahle had retired 12 of his last 13 hitters with an infield single as the lone exception. He had thrown only 77 pitches, so he had more in the tank. Akiyama held a bat in the dugout, prepared to pinch-hit. Antone began warming in the bullpen.
Bell let Mahle hit for himself. Stephenson spiked the first pitch in the dirt for a wild pitch, advancing the runners to second and third. Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster made a mound visit, giving Bell a chance to reconsider his decision if he wanted.
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Bell stuck with Mahle. It was one of those managerial decisions that is genius if it works and second-guessed all night if it doesn’t.
Mahle drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Jesse Winker. The Rockies brought in Justin Lawrence to face Winker, the National League leader in batting average. Winker grounded out to second base, slamming his helmet to the dirt after he reached first base.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, it was Mahle’s chance to reward his manager’s faith. He surrendered a leadoff triple to Hampson. As the Reds played with the infield drawn in, Mahle pitched out of it. He induced a flyout to right field that wasn’t deep enough for a sacrifice fly. He struck out pinch-hitter Charlie Blackmon on three pitches and ended the threat with a groundout.
After the inning-ending groundout, Mahle celebrated with a yell and a flex. Fellow starting pitchers Wade Miley and Sonny Gray were waiting at the bottom of the dugout steps to high-five him. Mahle walked the length of the dugout and fist-bumped all his teammates.
Mahle completed seven innings, matching a career-high for the fourth time. He allowed two runs and seven hits while striking out four. He didn’t generate many swings-and-misses, but he worked ahead in counts. He threw a first-pitch strike to the first 10 batters he faced.
His biggest mistake came in the first inning. He tried to throw a slider inside to Ryan McMahon and it didn’t slide. McMahon launched the ball into the second deck in right-center, a 478-foot blast for a two-run homer. The Rockies held a lead after the first inning for the third consecutive night.
The Reds didn’t hit a ball out of the infield in their first trip through the lineup against Jhoulys Chacín, who made his first start since 2019 after being moved to the bullpen. Chacín permitted just two batters to reach base – an infield single and a walk to Mahle.
Chacín paid the price for walking the opposing pitcher. Nick Castellanos lined a two-run homer over the left-field fence with two outs in the third inning. It was Castellanos’ 10th homer of the season, which is tied for the sixth-most in the Majors.
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The Reds didn't score again until Kyle Farmer drilled a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning. Farmer knew where the ball was headed immediately, taking a couple of hops out of the batter's box.
It wasn't pretty, but the Reds did just enough. They are 7-2 in extra-inning games this season.
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